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Google announced Google U.S. Government Search (http://usgov.google.com), a site that is designed to offer a single location for searching across U.S. government information, and for keeping up-to-date on government news. It includes U.S. federal, state, and local sites with domains such as .gov and .mil as well as select government sites with .com, .us, and .edu domains (e.g., .usps.com, .ca.us, and ndu.edu). It also includes news from other sites like WashingtonPost.com.

Google U.S. Government Search allows people to customize the layout of the page and add content to the site from a searchable directory that includes information on government and general topics such as sports, business, and technology. News from other Web sites can be added using RSS feeds.

Google U.S. Government Search is the newest Google search product for government agencies. Google said that its enterprise group already counts hundreds of government agencies as customers for Google enterprise search and geospatial products. To expand Google's ability to serve federal government customers, Google also recently added Mike Bradshaw, as head of federal sales. Bradshaw, who has more than 20 years experience selling technology to federal agencies, will be located in Google's office in Herndon, Va., where he will focus on helping federal agencies benefit from Google enterprise products.

[Note: The government's own search site, FirstGov.gov, is powered by MSN Search and Vivísimo.]